The terms below come up across most browser farm and garden games. Names differ from game to game (one game's club is another's guild), so we've grouped them by what they do rather than by what one publisher calls them.
The basics
- Timer, growth time
- How long a crop, animal or building takes before you can collect. Almost everything in a farm game runs on one. The length of timers decides how often the game wants you back.
- Check-in
- A short visit to collect what's ready and start the next round. Most of your time in a farm game is spent in check-ins.
- Raw goods
- What comes straight from the field or the animal: wheat, milk, eggs, wool, vegetables.
- Processed goods
- What a building makes from raw goods: flour, bread, cheese, balls of wool, sweets. They usually sell for more and take longer.
- Production chain
- A line of steps where one product feeds the next, such as wheat to flour to bread. Long chains reward planning; a gap at the start stalls everything after it.
- Fodder
- Plants grown to feed animals rather than to sell. In some games, such as My Free Farm, your fields have to cover both.
Selling and trading
- Order, delivery
- A request for a set of goods, from a character in the game, in exchange for coins or rewards. Farmerama's market orders and My Free Farm 2's truck deliveries are examples.
- Customers
- Characters who come to your farm or garden to buy produce at the game's price.
- Marketplace, player market
- A place where players sell to each other. Prices move with supply and demand. In Molehill Empire you even run your own market stall and set the price.
- Trade route, caravan
- Ways of moving goods further afield, usually for bigger rewards. My Little Farmies uses caravans and a Hanseatic League system.
Playing with others
- Club, guild, cooperative
- A group of players who share goals and often trade among themselves. Group quests are the usual reason to log in more often.
- Neighbour
- Another player whose farm or garden you can visit and help, for example by watering their plants.
- Showcase farm, display garden
- A version of your farm or garden set out for others to visit and, in some games, rate.
- Server
- A separate copy of the game world. Players on different servers usually can't trade or join the same club, so pick the one your friends use.
Progress and the money side
- Level, experience
- Your overall progress. New plants, animals and buildings usually become available as you level up.
- Quest, task, mission
- A set goal with a reward. Some are permanent, some belong to events.
- Event
- A limited-time set of goals, often seasonal, with its own decorations or items. Events are the main thing that stretches play time.
- Regular currency
- Coins or similar, earned by selling. It covers the everyday game.
- Premium currency
- A second currency that can be bought with real money and is sometimes earned in play. It typically buys speed-ups, decorations and special items. upjers, for example, says its premium currency is not strictly required to play.
- Speed-up
- Skipping or shortening a timer, often with premium currency. The most common purchase in timer-based games.
- Power-up
- A temporary boost, such as faster growth or a bigger yield. In My Free Farm they're made at the mill from special recipes.
- Decoration
- An item that makes a farm look nicer. In some games, decorations also attract customers or earn ratings.
- Free to start, optional in-game purchases
- The model all six games on our line use: you can register and play without paying, and buying items is up to you.
Missing a term? Write to us and we'll add it.